Project: University of Arts London (Stratford Fashion Building)
Contractor: Expanded
Scope: Special formwork was appointed by Expanded a Laing o Rourke company to Design, Develop and manufacture bespoke high pressure column formwork of various shapes.
The project itself had a high level of prestige and subsequently all concrete finishes was of a very high and stringent architectural finish requirement.
All Columns had a pour height of 15m, with a pumped from bottom requirement resulting in a pour pressure of 375 kN/m².
The Columns has 3 different geometric shapes and dimensions.
1.2m x 1.4m Rectangle Column, 1.2m x 0.53m Trapezoidal Column and a 1.3m x 1.4m to 1.3m x 2.7m Tapering Column that additionally narrowed in height as an architectural feature to create the appearance of greater distance.
On all columns the pump port was placed to be below the Finished floor level, keeping any potential blemishes hidden.
Additionally due to the architectural requirements of the project, even though less economic all the skin joints were evenly spaced to ensure across all 3 columns shapes any visible horizontal lines would be uniformed.
Due to the length of the formwork panels and the limited space on site the columns was manufactured in single length panels, with additional stiffening added to reduce bending when pitching the column from horizontal to vertical.
The large columns, were subject to a high level of environmental loads due the their height and width, Special formwork worked with the site teams to develop propping positions which enabled proprietary kit to be used rather than bespoke props.
The overall finish was a resounding success, with all the formwork producing high quality finish columns, and due to the developed design eased site lifting, assembly and striking times.
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